The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) is pleased to announce the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has increased the funding available under the FY 2014 Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Program grants to qualified sub-applicants in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, all Federally-recognized Tribal governments, and 5 U.S. Territories.

Please note: These programs are available only to local and state government agencies and authorities and Federally-recognized Tribal governments. Individuals, businesses, or private non-profits (PNPs) are not eligible subapplicants and cannot apply.

Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Program Streamlined

The Unified HMA Program consolidated the deadlines and many of the procedures for FEMA's four annual non-disaster (i.e., not tied to Presidential disaster declarations) mitigation grant programs. The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 further revised the Unified HMA, leaving only the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM) and Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA).

Priorities for PDM and FMA

Acquire/demolish Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL), Repetitive Loss (RL) and substantially-damaged properties that were not submitted for funding under the NYS Superstorm Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), or the NY Rising or NYC Recovery Programs.

Note: SRL and RL properties are designated by FEMA. Your community contains SRL and/or RL properties only if it is included in the community list attached to the announcement; if your community is on the list, you should call our office (see below) to determine which properties have been designated.

Other activities supported in Superstorm Sandy HMGP, including the purchase of generators, will not be prioritized. Prioritization is based on past grant cycles, consistent with State strategies identified in the 2014 New York State Hazard Mitigation Plan and priorities identified by FEMA for the 2014 Unified HMA Program. PDM and FMA program basics follow.

PDM Basics

Congress has committed $63 million nationwide for PDM FY 2014 ($23.7 million in FY 2013):

The maximum grant available is $3 million Federal ($4 million total), although a State's top-ranked project must be less than $250,000 for the State to be guaranteed set-aside funding;

States are allowed to submit a maximum of 10 planning and projects subapplications from qualified subapplicants, although of these no more than 2 may be project subapplications;

Awarded projects will be reimbursed by FEMA for 75% of all eligible project expenses; subapplicants and/or owners must provide the 25% share from non-Federal sources.

FMA Basics

Congress has committed $89 million nationwide for FMA FY 2014 ($120 million in FY 2013):

Projects must eliminate or reduce risk to properties insurable under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP);

SRL properties may receive up to 100% Federal funding, and RL properties may receive up to 90% Federal funding; subapplicants and/or owners must provide the remainder from non-Federal sources.

Based on FEMA caps, the State has established funding caps (75% Federal share) for planning grants:

$112,500 up to 100,000 residents
$225,000 up to 500,000 residents
$300,000 over 500,000 residents.

Requirements: Hazard Mitigation Project Grants

DHSES will accept Letter of Intents (LOIs) to support the acquisition/removal of Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties and Repetitive Loss (RL) properties, and substantially-damaged properties not yet on the SRL or RL lists. In addition to the information requested, submitted LOIs must also be accompanied by:

The local floodplain administrator's determination of substantial damage (on letterhead), one for each substantially-damaged property;

A Notice of Voluntary Interest signed by the current owner(s), one for each property;

Evidence of a current contract for flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), (properties must also be covered at time of award), one for each property;

Evidence of the community's current adoption of a FEMA-approved HM plan, for all properties/once per community.

Properties under litigation, in foreclosure, or already foreclosed are ineligible to participate, as are properties under consideration in other NYS and NYC acquisition programs (see "Priorities for PDM and FMA" above). Prioritization for funding will be as follows:

Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties that have been substantially-damaged;

Repetitive Loss (RL) properties that have been substantially-damaged;

Substantially-damaged properties not yet determined by FEMA to be SRL or RL properties;

SRL and RL properties that meet FEMA standards for a Benefit-Cost Analysis waiver.

Where subapplications are identical within a ranking category above, DHSES will prioritize those that mitigate the largest number of NFIP-insured properties (first) and the highest total structure value (second).

How to Apply

Only county-wide planning initiatives, and projects to acquire SRL and RL properties, and substantially-damaged properties, (as designated by FEMA and the local floodplain administrator, respectively) are eligible in this cycle. A list of SRL and RL communities is found at www.dhses.ny.gov/oem/mitigation/, as can the LOIs that must be used to apply for these planning or project grants.

Only eligible subapplicants who file complete LOIs will be notified to continue the subapplication process. Subapplications must be filed using FEMA's electronic grants (e-Grants) system, which involves registration and access validation through DHSES. Sub-applicants will also have to provide DHSES with an original and two paper copies of supporting documentation that cannot be attached to the e-Grant application.

Subapplicants are encouraged to submit LOIs before the deadline to focus on application development.

July 18, 2014 @ 11:59 pm: Complete subapplications submitted to the State via FEMA's eGrants system, to allow the State to meet its deadline to FEMA.

Information Dissemination

DHSES has placed information on its website and disseminated it to County Emergency Managers, Mitigation Coordinators and Planners, as well as regional/metropolitan planning organizations, soil and water conservation districts, and other mitigation stakeholders and partners. If you have questions or need further information, please visit www.dhses.ny.gov/oem/mitigation or telephone (518) 292-2304.